Sergeant commits suicide to not fire on civilians during failed coup attempt

Sergeant commits suicide to not fire on civilians during failed coup attempt

ISTANBUL

A Turkish sergeant chose to shoot himself dead rather than follow a commander’s order to fire on civilians at Sabiha Gökçen Airport in Istanbul during the July 15 failed coup attempt.

Video footage of the incident shows people trying to save Sgt. Ferhat Daş, 25, after he shot himself in a tank.

“We are not traitors,” shouted the sergeant before killing himself, Doğan News Agency reported on July 29. Kaya Aydın, whose son-in-law, Özkan Daş, is Ferhat Daş’s brother, said he went to the airport upon a call saying there was a military drill.

“The soldiers went out because they thought that there was a military drill. The commander ordered him to open fire on civilians. He told them that he can’t. The commander then turns to him and says, ‘I’ll shoot you,’” Aydın told Anadolu Agency, as he added that was the moment Daş decided to killed himself.

The footage of the incident also shows Daş being carried to an ambulance by the civilians. The police then apprehended the remaining soldiers in the tank after the departure of the ambulance, according to the footage.

Fire was opened on the police vehicle that was taking the soldiers to the police headquarters and a police officer, Ozan Özen, was killed as a result.